


the firefly wakens

by 100demons



Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon Het Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Love, Romance, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-22
Updated: 2013-05-22
Packaged: 2017-12-12 14:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/812548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100demons/pseuds/100demons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byakuya falls in love for the first time. (Needless to say, it freaks him out. Considerably.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the firefly wakens

It was a mercilessly hot day, the air so thick with water that every breath Byakuya took felt like he was drinking an especially sticky glass of juice.

“Damn it, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’d rather be back inside doing paperwork than running around Rukongai in this heat.” His companion ran the back of his hand across his forehead and wipe it on the sleeve of his uniform, already streaked grey with dust and grime, Byakuya noted with barely hidden distaste. “Couldn’t Shirogane-fukutaichou have assigned this to some of the unseated officers? Honestly, all we’re doing is running around and asking people if they feel hungry or not.”

“All of the seated officers in our Division are ordered to serve this duty in rotation, Tanaka-san,” Byakuya said in a cool tone, not bothering to hide the contempt in his voice. “As ordered by Kuchiki-taichou."

Tanaka rolled his eyes and hiked up the sleeves of his uniform even more. “Just a little friendly complaining. Don’t be such a stick in the mud, you’re supposed to join along with me. You know-- ‘yeah, this heat is the worst! I hate doing this!’” Tanaka’s voice rose in what Byakuya mused to be an imitation of his own.

“Yeah, this heat is the worst. I hate doing this,” Byakuya repeated in a monotone and then tilted his head at the shorter man next to him. “Does this satisfy, Tanaka-san?”

“It’s not enough that Shirogane-fukutaichou has to ruin my fun-- _you’re_ in on it too. It’s a giant conspiracy!” Tanaka flung his hands up in the air and marched forward onto Junrinan’s main road, clouds of dust billowing around his hakama. Byakuya hid a smile and followed, keeping careful tabs on the flashes of reiatsu in the area. The bright, fiery star just ahead of him was Tanaka-san, surrounded by a carpet of tiny fluttering lights, each representing a soul, flickering in time to the rhythm of their own lives.

Byakuya frowned a little as he felt his superior’s officer’s curl and shift, and followed the burning star in his mind’s eye. It was impossible to track him by sight, black gi quickly swallowed by the crowds of the living dead, but Tanaka-san’s reiatsu simply outshone everyone else around him, to the point of overshadowing some of the smaller lights around him. A sharp glare was enough to waylay many of the potential sharp elbows coming at his way and Byakuya swept his way down the street, into an alley and in front of a shabby little stand crowded by children and, unsurprisingly, the fourth seated officer of the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13.

“Byakuya-kun,” Tanaka beamed at him, holding up a bulging cotton bag filled to the brim with konpeito candies. “Look what I found!”

“I thought we were supposed to be looking for new recruits for the Academy, Tanaka-san,” Byakuya said. “Not candy.” If glares were as capable as kidou he would have burned a hole into Tanaka’s head a thousand times over by now.

Tanaka popped a handful of brightly colored sugar candies into his mouth and pointed at the woman handing out bags of candy behind the counter of the stand. “Found that too!”

The children scattered at his approach, though some of them were bold enough to wipe their sticky, grimy little hands on the edges of his hakama. Byakuya awarded their foolishness with an icy glare and they screeched in a mix of fear and delight, leaving behind crushed bits of candy in their wake.

The woman instantly bowed at his approach, black hair swaying with her graceful movement. “I’m honored by your presence shinigami-san.”

Instinctively, Byakuya reached out with his reiatsu and felt the small flicker of her presence, nearly hidden by Tanaka’s bright flame and Byakuya’s own aura. It was small, but not without potential.

“What is your name, commoner?” Byakuya neatly sidestepped the elbow that Tanaka tried to jab in his ribs. _Commoner_ , he mouthed in protest, cheeks bulging with sweets. Byakuya ignored him, as usual.

“Hisana, shinigami-san.” The woman bowed even lower until he was fairly sure that if the counter wasn’t in her way, her forehead would have touched her knees.

Tanaka finally swallowed and tucked the bag of candy in his inner pocket. “What’d I tell ya, huh? Definitely can pass the entrance exam, no prob.”

“I suppose so,” Byakuya said.

“Quit with the bowing, lady,” Tanaka said and slapped a handful of kan down on the wooden counter. “You’re going to be a shinigami soon!”

Slowly, the woman rose up from her bow, dark eyes wide in her pale face. “I beg your pardon, shinigami-san,” she said hesitantly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, do you mean.... _I_ \--” The commoner pointed a finger at herself.

“You have the reiatsu capability to become one,” Byakuya said and rested a hand on Senbonzakura’s hilt. There was something about her face....he shifted into a ready position, again ignoring Tanaka’s questioning look. “You may be accepted into the Academy, where you will be trained into becoming a shinigami, one of the Gotei 13 that protects the balance of the world and defends Soul Society in times of need.” If possible, the woman’s eyes grew even wider, twin pools of deep purple. Byakuya tightened his grip on his hilt and Senbonzakura stirred in the back of his head, whisper-soft petals of thought twining with his own.

_Curious..._

“I-I’m not sure about this--”

“It means three meals a day and a safe place,” Tanaka said soberly. “I’m from District 10, so I know what it’s like. The hunger, the fear. The Gotei 13, they take care of you.”

Byakuya gave the man next to him a quick glance. He’d known Tanaka was one of the Common Dead (all the more remarkable considering his high seat), but it’d had never quite seemed so real until now.

“Listen, if you ever change your mind--” Tanaka pulled out a sheet of paper from a sleeve and slapped it down onto the counter, next to the pile of coins. “There’s an Academy office right near the West Gate. Show them this and they’ll get you sorted out.”

Trembling hands picked up the sheet of rice paper carefully. “I don’t know what to say...” The woman bowed again. “Thank you very much, shinigami-san.”

“Tanaka Kenji, Sixth Division,” Tanaka grinned. “Make sure to get in contact with me if you ever find yourself joining up.”

They had done what they had come to do. Byakuya gave the woman a careless nod and swept out of the alley, trusting Tanaka to follow him. He loosened his grip on Senbonzakura but didn’t let go, the cool touch of his zanpakutou a comfort in the oppressive heat.

_You readied yourself for a battle that did not seem to exist..._

It something about the woman-- her eyes or her mannerisms or-- Byakuya scowled. Whatever she was doing, it left him tense and irritated. It was a relief to be free from that obligation.

 _So you say_.

It was maddening how similar his zanpakutou sometimes sounded like the traitorous exile.

“Oi, Byakuya-kun!”

Byakuya felt the quiver of flash-step in the air and Tanaka appeared abruptly in front of him, sandals hitting the dust with a roughness that made Byakuya frown.

“You’re going to have to improve your flash-step if you’re ever going to advance,” he said coolly and continued walking.

“We can’t all be Flash Step prodigies,” Tanaka said dryly. “But don’t change the subject-- what was with you before? The only time I’ve seen you that testy is when the paperwork from the unseated gets fucked up and we have to spend all afternoon untangling that mess. But we’ve clearly been talking to an extremely attractive young lady.” Tanaka’s eyebrow wiggled suggestively.

Byakuya saw the arch of the East Gate in the distance and the reiatsu surged automatically in his feet for a quick flash-step. “I’ll see you at headquarters,” he said and calling to mind Tactic No.32 of Yamamoto’s _Tactics of War_ , made a hasty retreat for safer ground.

* * *

 

The room was quiet, except for the soft lull of the radio and the occasional crunch from Takana’s desk, candy strewn all over his paperwork and threatening to spill into his inkstone. Lady Rina crooned a soft love song popular a hundred years back, and Byakuya vaguely remembered an evening of calligraphy in the East Garden in the summer villa with the same song playing in the background.

“Oi, Byakuya-kun.”

Byakuya looked up from his desk and frowned. “What is it Tanaka-san?”

“Say, what was the name of that pretty lady we scouted in Rukongai? The one with the candy! Was it Hanako? Hanabi?” Tanaka chewed on the end of the brush and Byakuya didn’t bother to hide his curling lip.

“You’re supposed to recruit them for the Academy, not your lackluster love life.” Sato jabbed her stamp onto the pile of paperwork on her desk firmly, shaking the creaky legs of her desk a bit. “And what about the delicate flower you were spouting about earlier-- what’s her name, Kyoko? Kiki?”

“Just for reports and such Sato-chan,” Tanaka said in protest, raising his hands up in the air as if to protect his dignity (if he even had any). “No need to feel jealous, my heart will always belong to you.”

“Yeah, me and ten others,” Sato said dryly as she scattered sand over her paperwork. “I pine for thee, Kenji-kun.”

“What a heartfelt declaration of love! You wound me with your passion Sato-chan!” Tanaka clasped his hands over his heart dramatically. Byakuya bit back a sigh and wondered how, in this room of seated officers, he was considered the _youngest_.

“I believe her name is Hisana,” Byakuya said as Tanaka popped a bright konpeito into his mouth.

“That’s right! I can always count on you to help me out in times of distress,” Tanaka beamed at him. “Hisana, Hisana, Hisana, oh beautiful lady of the tasty konpeito...I wonder if she ever decided to take the exam...” Tanaka propped his chin upon his hand and leaned forward, scattering bits of candy all around the unorganized wilds of his desk.

Byakuya turned back to his work and realized that his still-raised brush had dripped ink onto the sixth seat’s reports on the hellmoth butterfly cages, blotting out a good deal of the section detailing their daily food intake for the past month. It was, he privately admitted, no great loss. He set the brush down and reached for the flask of sand, the surface of the glass embossed with the kanji for Kuchiki, surrounded by a ring of semiprecious stones.

Now that Tanaka had mentioned her... Byakuya idly wondered if the commoner woman had indeed taken up the offer and visited the Academy outpost. He unstoppered the flask with a sharp _pop_ and set the cork down on the desk. She would have to stop selling konpeito of course, shinigami of any repute had no business selling candy to mongrel children. Still, he had never seen anyone else with eyes quite like her; they looked almost too large for her face, deep purple, edged with long lashes and--

Byakuya looked blankly down at his desk and the shattered remnants of his flask, sand pooled up in tiny hills and mountains over the sixth seat’s report.

“Kuchiki-kun, are you alright?” Sato hovered over his desk, concern drawing her dark brows together. “You seem a little out of it, I’ve never seen you drop anything like that before.”

“Soul King, that looks like a pretty expensive flask,” Tanaka whistled, his short crop of bright yellow hair popping up behind Sato’s shoulder. “Are those emeralds in the glass?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Byakuya said, trailing a finger through the fine white sand, carefully skirting the glass shards buried in its depths. “It was just-- a lapse in concentration.”

“If you say so.” Sato gave him one last look before returning to her desk, reaching out to lovingly touch the name plate embossed with SATO JUNKO | SIXTH SEAT before sitting.

“So I guess even Kuchikis lose their concentration, huh?” Tanaka crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you sure you’re not feeling a little off? It’s ok to take a sick day every now and again, you know.”

“I’m fine,” Byakuya said tersely and swept the debris into the wastebasket at his side. “Thank you for your concern. Tanaka-san.”

“Yeah,” Tanaka said, chewing on his bottom lip. “No prob.”

Finally left alone, Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose. What _had_ happened? He hadn’t lost track of his surroundings like that since-- since-- he couldn’t even remember. At least not since he’d entered the Academy, years ago.

 _A warrior cannot always be on guard_ , Senbonzakura put in, voice as silky as a flower petal. _You will only exhaust yourself._

 _This was inexcusable,_ Byakuya snapped back. _At the very least you could have warned me._

 _And spare you the momentary humiliation?_ Byakuya could feel the amusement from his zanpakuto well up in the back of his mind, soft around the edges. _Besides, if you weren’t thinking so hard about her, then you might not have dropped it at all._

 _There’s_ something _off about her and this is only further proof of that._ Byakuya scowled and shoved his pile of unread reports and paperwork into a drawer. He grabbed his zanpakuto off its stand next to his desk and pushed his chair back, ignoring the screeching squeaks it made in protest.

“Where’re you going, Byakuya-kun? We have that meeting with Shirogane-fukutaichou in a few hours.” Tanaka gave him a keen look, a little undermined by the fact that his nose was smeared with splotchy ink.

“Out,” Byakuya scowled and swept out of the room, ignoring the soft, echoing laughs of his zanpakuto in the back of his head.

* * *

 

 _She seems harmless enough_.

Byakuya, perched carefully on a shadow of a rooftop overlooking the alley, ignored his zanpakuto for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. Hiding in the shadows and acting like one of the Onmitsukidou was not the way of the Kuchiki, but tactics were tactics and he needed to gather more information on this strange woman.

The flood of children had ebbed and the woman was now sitting on a stool, peering at some piece of paper or book-- it was impossible to make out exactly what from his angle. Behind her were boxes and boxes of candy labeled painstakingly in hiragana with colors, from red to purple and all the shades in between.

_We fight Hollows and enemies to the Gotei 13. Not keepers of sweet shops._

_How else do you explain my reaction to her?_ Byakuya shook his head, hair sticking to the sweaty nape of his neck. Skulking about in the shadows like some servant of the night-- this was useless. There was no better approach than the direct one. A quick twist of reiatsu and Byakuya flash-stepped, landing neatly in front of the stall.

“Heavens above--” The woman gasped and clutched a beam of wood for support. “Shi-shinigami-san!”

Byakuya hesitated at the sight of her pale, pinched face, her purple eyes red-rimmed and dark. Had she been...weeping?

The woman looked up at him (he was a good head and a half taller; he hadn’t realized before how small she truly was) for an uncertain second before her face brightened. “A few days ago,” she said slowly. “You came with another shinigami, Ta- Tanaka Kenji...?”

Byakuya nodded tersely, heart thrumming in his chest like he’d just come from a long run or an intense fight with a Hollow. “You may call me Byakuya,” he said, his name out of his mouth before it even registered in his mind. There was no need to have his Clan name involved in this affair as well.

The woman flushed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “Byakuya-san,” she bowed deeply, stretching the vowels out like a commoner. “How can I help you?”

He tried to project an air of calm and disinterest as he wracked his mind for a possible reason to visit. “A follow up,” he said suddenly. “To our previous encounter. About-- about your entrance to the Academy. Have you visited the outpost yet?”

“Oh.” The woman flushed again, her cheeks turning a bright pink the color of the candy that she sold. “Not exactly, Byakuya-san. I’m afraid I haven’t the time or the desire.”

“You...don’t wish to be a shinigami?” Byakuya said slowly, tilting his head. Of course, there needed to be civilians in order to support the balance of society, but Byakuya found it unfathomable that when presented with a chance to better her life, this woman _refused_.

“No.” The woman’s voice was gentle but firm as she shook her head, dark hair swinging. “I wouldn’t be very suited to that life.”

Byakuya swept a hand at the worn stall, its weathered sign (KONPEITO & MORE!) and the shabby row of boxes behind her. “You would rather sell candy?”

The woman was quiet for a long moment, her hands tightly clasped together in front of her waist. “I’ve worked very hard to get here, Byakuya-san,” she said and looked up, her dark eyes meeting his own. “Selling candy is as important to me, if you’ll excuse me for saying so,  perhaps just as important as being a shinigami is to you.”

Byakuya broke eye contact first. “I see,” he said and felt no pride for the lie.

“I’m very sorry to disappoint you, shinigami-san,” the woman said. “But I have my own life here.” She smiled and bowed again. “Would you like a bag of konpeito? To thank you for your efforts.”

“I don’t eat sweets,” Byakuya said absently, turning over her words in his mind.

The woman frowned, brow knitting together. “Not eat sweets?” Her tone suggested that she thought Byakuya a little touched in the head.

“I’m not a child,” Byakuya said a little petulantly. “I enjoy spicy food.”

“Ah, I see.” She brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. “Well, please take a bag anyway, as a sign of my thanks. I remember that your companion bought a bag and seemed to enjoy it.” She quickly busied herself with the boxes in the back of the stall, a tiny flurry of activity buzzing around in the cramped space. Within moments she had a large, bulging bag of sweets in hand, neatly tied with a blue satin bow. “Please accept my gratitude, shinigami-san.”

Byakuya automatically reached out with two hands, years of etiquette drilled into his head kicking in and accepted the heavy bag. “Thank you,” he said, pausing just a moment before he added, a little more softly, “Hisana-san.”

Hisana beamed up at him, dark eyes lightening up to a pale purple. “My pleasure, Byakuya-san.”

It was only later, when he’d reached the barracks and unwrapped the bag of candy, did he find a small brown package nestled in the mound of brightly colored konpeito. With careful fingers he opened it to reveal a small note (written in a cramped and untidy hand) and a packet of spicy wasabi peas.

_I hope this will be a little more to your taste._

_-H_

 

* * *

 

 

It took him a solid week of deliberation, Senbonzakura’s unhelpful commentary and a hakuda-only spar with three seated officers before Byakuya appeared in the alleyway in Junrinan in his black gi, thermos in hand. The sun was setting, turning the dirt path underneath his sandals a vivid orange.

“Excuse me.”

Hisana turned around, hand over her mouth. “Byakuya-san?” Her other hand was still clinging to the wooden paneling that she was in the middle of pulling over the stall. It seemed she was in the process of closing up shop. Byakuya released a quiet breath and stepped forward.

“I...hello?”

Byakuya held up the thermos and coughed a little, looking to the side. “I thought we maybe could have some tea together,” he muttered.

Hisana blinked and pointed a finger at herself. “With...me?”

“I was grateful for your gift earlier and I thought a sunset viewing with tea...” Byakuya trailed off, floundering for words. How could this woman reduce him to silence with a mere glance! He felt heat climbing up his cheeks and cleared his throat. “That is, if you have the time,” he added, crossing his arms over his chest, thermos swinging.

“I’d love to,” she smiled, eyes twinkling.

It was showy and a waste of energy, but Byakuya ignored the protests in the back of his mind and flash-stepped over to her, appearing right behind her slender frame. “The rooftop over there should have a nice view.” He pointed at the two-story wooden building next to them and left out the part on how exactly he had known that it would provide such a view. Hisana stumbled a little at his sudden movement and whirled around, yukata fluttering with the motion.

“How did you-- you were--”

Byakuya took her hand and was surprised at the calloused pads on the tips of her fingers. Her nails were cut to the quick without any fancy ornamentation; these were working hands and he raised them up in the light, fascinated.

“E-Excuse me, Byakuya-san what are you--” He could feel her pulse speed up; intrigued, he traced the delicate blue veins of her wrist. They were unlike any noblewoman’s hands, strong and rough with work, brown from exposure to the sun.

Hisana snatched her hands from her grip and hid them behind her back, a deep flush spreading from her chest to her cheeks. “I beg your pardon!”

“Your hands are honest,” he said.

“It’s not like my hands can lie!” she laughed, cheeks reddening ever more. “What a strange thing to say.”

Byakuya thought of pale hands with long nails gleaming of red lacquer, crowned with rings of jade and ivory, the heavy stink of perfumed lotion. “But true. I like it. Your hands.” He reached out again and after a moment’s hesitation, she placed her right hand in his and as their fingers twined together he imagined fancifully, just for a second, that their pulses began to beat at the same time.

“This is my favorite part,” he said and grinned at her, briefly forgetting that he was Kuchiki Byakuya, Fifth Seat of the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13, his smile just as boyish and eager as when he was just Bya-bo.

Reiatsu curled around them like quicksilver and Byakuya took a step and felt the world collapse into a single, shining point. One breath in and--

“Oh my,” Hisana breathed as she caught the full glory of the setting sun over the massive spread of Rukongai, deep oranges and violets enveloping a sea of roofs and streets in a loving embrace. “This is beautiful.”

Byakuya, observing the way the light formed a halo of a sort over her crown of dark hair, purple eyes lit with a burning fire, agreed. “Very beautiful,” he said and tightened his grip on her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> For characterization, I'm working on a (much) younger Byakuya and a healthier Hisana. He may be strict and an arrogant aristocrat, but his creepy behavior through the Soul Society Arc seems largely motivated by his wife's death and his promise to his parents' grave.
> 
> I'm definitely considering a whole series just exploring their relationship, from the beginning all the way to the end we saw in 179.


End file.
